Crude oil separator



June 3, 1947. P. M. ELLIOTT CRUDE OIL SEPARATOR Filed Nov. 16, 1943 P. M 13 mo F Patented June 3, 1947 PATENT OFFICE CRUDE on. sarm'ron Peter Mather Elliott, Toronto assignor to Oil Distribution V Toronto, Ontario, Canada Ontario, cm, Appliances Limited,

Application November 16, 1943, Serial No. 510,520

6 Claims? 1 This invention relates to separators for crude oil, particularly to the type of separator in which the crude oil is passed through a tank where means are provided for carrying oil. any gas that may be mixed with the liquid, and for scrubbing the liquid to separate the water from the oil.

According to the present invention the mixture oi oil and water is passed through specially constructed baflies which separate the oil from the water. Partially separated liquid is subjected to heat and again passed through the bai'fle system where the remainder of the oil is separated from the water.

The invention is hereinafter more particularly described and is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figure l is a vertical section viewed from one side of the device;

Figure 2 a front view partly broken away;

Figure 3 a cross section on the line 3-3 in Figure 2; and

Figure 4 a, perspective view of the heating unit.

In the various figures corresponding numerals refer to corresponding parts.

The tank I is cylindrical in form and contained within said tank is the separating, apparatus hereinafter described. The tank is divided adiacent the top thereof by means of a partition 2 to form a chamber in the upper part of the tank. Into this chamber through an inlet pipe 3 passes the oil-water-gas mixture from the oil well, which fiows around an annular baiiie 4 and down the pipe 5 to a. point adjacent the bottom of th tank. A transverse baiiie 4' extending between the outer wall of the tank and the annular baille l forces the liquid to travel around the annular bafiie ll as illustrated by the arrows in Figures 2 and 3. In the course of passage around the baiiie, gas which: is mixed with the oil passes oil and out through the outlet pipe 6 in the top of the tank.

If there is no appreciable amount of gas mixed with the liquid, the liquid may be passed directly into the bottom of the tank from'the pipe 5' which as will be seen from Figure 1 extends across the bottom of the tank and is provided with a longitudinal slot through which the liquid mixture will pass into the tank.

The oil and water mixture which has entered the tank through the pipe 5 or 5' then will pass up through the tank and out through the outlet pipe 25 where it is carried away for further treatment,

It will be understood that the tank will'be full of oil and water, the oillevel being adjacent the outlet at substantiallythe point marked 0. L.. and the water level being at substantially the point marked W. L. in- Figures 1 and 2. There will be a certain fusion of oil and water throughout the height of the tank. The approximate line in division between the water and oil, marked as the water line, will be regulated in a known I manner by a pressure valve i8 in pipe I adjacent the bottom of the tank, and which permits the a water to flow out when a predetermined weight of water is in the separator. Conventional means for regulating amount of water in the tank are shown in such prior patents as Ihrig 2,232,948 or Walker 2,181,687. 10

- the tank through the pipe I or the pipe 5'passes up through the tank and will be directed by the annular upwardly sloping battle 8, which is secured to the walls of the tank I and surrounds the apex of the inverted cone 9, against the outer walls oi said inverted cone 9. The oil-water mixture travels up the sides of the inverted cone 9 to the top thereof, where the said mixture is trapped by a. ring Iii which is secured to the walls of the tank I and extends over the upper rim of the inverted cone and down within the cone slightly below the said rim. This reverse flow is very eflective as a separator. Subsequently the oil, i'rom'which most of the water has been removed by passing through the baille system above described, willpass up and out through the outlet 26. For final separation, further bailles may be arranged within the tower or tank I.

Water which has separated out while passing an up the sides of the inverted cone 9 will be caught between the baiiiel and the walls of the tank i, and as shown in Eigure l a drain pipe II is pro videdin the bottom of the baflle 8. The water being heavier than the oil'will flow down through this drain pipe. Likewise, a drain I? is provided for water which is separated out by the ring In and which sinks to the bottom of the'inverted cone 9. Mixed with this water'will be considerable oil. This mixture is carried by means of o the pipe I! to the bottom oi. the jacket l3 which surrounds the heating unit It which is an oil burner 01 a known type and which is provided with a smoke stack or fume vent which runs up outsidethe front of the tank. In this jacket 13 the water which is still mixed with some oil is warmed to a. temperature. of 100 to 170 and passes out. of the pipe 16 into the tank below the inverted cone 9. A thermostat I! is provided in the jacket ii for regulating the temperature of the mixture. Raising the temperature'of the mixtureoi. water and oil in the jacket I3 causes complete and final separation so that the mixture which comes up through the pipe l6 separates out, the separated oil going upwardly through the separator to the oil outlet, and the water I! being discharged in the manner hereinbeiore described. The eillcient construction of the scrubbersor separators makes it possible to reduce the height of separator required to separate any given quantity of oil and water. and heating only a portion The water and oil mixture which has come into without the use of heat, but after such initial.

separation, water still clings to some particles of oil, and further separation can only be satisfactorily and efllciently efiected by heating the mixture, as is done in accordance with this invention. Heating only a, small portion of the mixture effects not only a saving of fuel, but also a saving of time, since the time within which the oil can be passed through a separator of a given size depends largely on the length of time it takes to heat the mixture. Obviously if only a small part of the mixture requires to be heated it can be passed through the separator much mo'rdquickly so that, for instance, a separator of a size which has a capacity of 100 barrels of oil per day might be capable of handling 500 barrels a day if made according to this invention. I It is thought that the construction and us of the invention will be apparent from the above description of the various parts and their purpose. It is to be understood that the form of my invention herewith shown and described, is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and

that various changes in'the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of my invention, or the scope of the subioined claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A separator for crude oil, comprising a. tank cone, a drain from the. space between the sides of the tank and the baiile in the interior of the tank below the baflie, a drain from the apex of the cone to the interior of the tank below the in the chamber, the drain for the cone communicates with the chamber, and the chamber is prohaving an inlet for the crude oil with which water is mixed, a heater in the tank, a chamber in which the heater is located, means in the tank above the chamber for separating oil from water, the said crude oil inlet being located below the separating means, a drain pipe for carrying imperfectly separated oil and water from the separating means to the chamber at a point adiacent the bottom thereof, and means. for carrying heated oil and water from the top of the chamber to the separating means, an outlet from the tank above the separating means for carrying off the separated oil, and an outlet from the tank below the separating means for carrying off the separated water.

2. A separator for crude oil, comprising a tank having an inlet for the crude oil with which water is mixed, a heater in the tank, a chamber in which the heater is located, means in the tank above the chamber for separating oil from water, said means being located above the crude oil inlet and including an inverted cone, a drain pipe from the apex ofv the cone to the chamber for carrying imperfectly separated oil and water from the cone, and means for discharging heated oil and water from the chamber at a point below the separating cone, an outlet from the tank above the separating means for carrying 011 the separated oil, and an outlet from the tank below the separating means for carrying oil the separated water. g

3. A separator for crude oil, comprising tank, and means for separating oil irom water including an inverted cone having its rim adjacent to but spaced from the sides of the tank, a ring secured to the sides of the tank and extending over and spaced from the upper rim of the cone, an annular baifle secured to the sides of the tank and surrounding the lower end of the cone and extending upwardly and inwardly to a point adiacent but spaced from the sides of the inverted vided. with an outlet below the ring but above the drain from the space between said ring and the walls of the tank.

5. A separator for crude oil, comprisinga tank, and means for separating oil from water including an inverted cone having its rim adjacent to but spaced from the sides of the tank, a ring secured to the sides of the tank and extending over and spaced from the upper rim of the cone and down within the cone below the said rim, a drain in the'bottom of the cone for carrying of! imperfectly separated oil and water from the cone to the interior of the tank below the cone, an inlet into the tank below the cone, means for heating said imperfectly separated oil and water, said heating means being located below the cone, an oil outlet from the tank above the separating means, and means for removing water from below the separating means.

6. A separator for crude oil, comprising a tank,

and means for separating oil from water including an inverted cone having its rim adjacent to but spaced from the sides or the tank, a ring secured to the sides of the tank and extending over and spaced from the upper rim of the cone and down within the cone below the said rim, an

annular baffle secured to the sides of the tank and surrounding the lower end of the cone and extending upwardly and inwardly to a point adjacent but spaced from the sides of the inverted cone, a drain from the space between the sides of the tank and the baflie to the interior of the tank below the battle, a drain in the bottom of the cone for carrying ofi imperfectly separated oil and water from the cone to the interior of the tank below the baflle, an inlet into the tank below the REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,585,979 Harrison May 25, 1926 1,633,195 Schwab et a1 June 21, 1927 946,759 King Jan. 18, 1910 1,523,077 Melott Jan. 13, 1925 2,179,131 Millard Nov. 7, 1939 1,943,367 Champion Jan.'=16, 1934 2,181,685 Walker Nov. 28, 1939 1,357,101 LeVora 1 Oct. 2-6, 1920 2,230,386 Pecker Feb. 4, 1941 1,803,083 Wack Apr. 28, 1931 2,261,101 Erwin Oct. 28, 1941 2,181,684 Walker Nov. 28, 1939 2,181,687 Walker Nov. 28, 1939 Bates Jan. 2, 1940 

